Rintintin junior

I have to say "Katts and Dog" was such an awesome show, and even though I was born in 1991, I really didn't see it until 1999 or 2000 when Showcase had rights to broadcast it. It is brought back so many memories of my childhood, and what Toronto really looked like while I was a little kid. Heck there was one episode which was filmed in my current high school, Leaside High School(even though the renamed it "Riverdale" for filming purposes) and it really brought it home for me. They had such good scripts and it brought out the reality of being a cop, and inspired me to go a get a German Shepherd Dog, and at one point made me want to become a cop, but now I don't think that it is a great idea. But it has such good values, and to believe it had better success in the States with 5 seasons and while good old "Due South" had 4 seasons. Heck with 5 seasons there should at least be a DVD out, and I wonder if Atlantique Productions is out of business which would be sad. But man this show is just well put together and had about the same actors that would be later used in Due South. The values such as drugs, losing a loved one, dealing with personal hardships, are just so nice to relate to.

Excellent show, wish there was a DVD. I hope Alliance takes over the distribution and copyright for this stuff.

In response to what jbuck_919 said:

'Katts & Dog' (or 'Rin Tin Tin K9 Cop') takes place in and around Toronto, Ontario.

As I recall, that was abundantly clear in the Canadian versions - due to the scenery and references to the Toronto Police Service, among other things.

I loved the show; it was one of my childhood favourites. If someone decided to air it, I would definitely watch it.

The plot and effects weren't quite as complex as my modern favourites (ie Third Watch), but they were excellent for its day.

~Mark

This was one of several excellent family-oriented Canadian productions from that time that were broadcast in the US and then disappeared. As other commentators have indicated, they were thoroughly enjoyable for all ages.

Imagine my shock when on visiting Montreal about ten years ago I turned on the hotel tv and, finding nothing better, checked out Katts and Dog. Which I had known exclusively as Rin Tin Tin, K-9 Cop. Now, you have to understand several things. First, Rin Tin Tin was a famous German shepherd dog character from a series in the late 50s. So it was perfectly logical for this dog to have that name. But the dog in Canada was Rudy, and I was amazed to discover that they had gone back over every single "Rudy" and dubbed in "Rinty" for the US audience. The dubbing was absolutely undetectable. But to this day I don't get the point.

Second thing you have to understand: They never made it clear where the show took place. It was intentionally an unspecified city in the Pacific northwest. The police uniforms looked plenty US to me but they must have been designed to look Canadian to the Canadians as well. (They did not have checkered caps.) Standard Canadian and standard US English, if there is such a thing, are scarcely distinguishable, so I guess they got by by not having the characters say "eh?" Because of PC or union considerations or both, there was a sequence of episodes in there where the female interest spoke with a French accent. In the context they made her French French, but obviously she was quebecoise.

Anyway, an excellent family show, and it is a shame that those of its ilk seem to be with us no more.

This is another under the radar gem and of course it's another relic from my childhood. I ran into this show when the Family Channel (now called ABC Family) was new and upcoming and it was a pleasant surprise for me because as a kid I actually was into action and detective shows, this to me was sort of a breath of fresh air because it was something a bit different, let alone they actually have a detective show for a family audience which really doesn't happen much even by todays standards.

I really like that theme song, I thought it was very good and a bit memorable, has that fun action beat to it. Even liked the location which of course was in Canada, so in a way it sort of gave the show a sort of cultural feel as we heard a few French Canadian accents. The action is solid/decent their choreographed well though it's the actions of the dog that are the most impressive, from chasing the baddies to taking them down.

Hank Katts is a solid protagonist, like that he's got a sort of easy going charisma but also knows when to crack down and be tough and in cases is really sharp. I also like how empathic he is as he treats his dog with respect and regards Rudy as more than just a pet, which is part of why they have a good partnership. Even like his son Steve whom is a kid character that is actually good because he not annoying he acts like an actual kid and is actually useful as he helps out in cases sometimes.

Rudy is great, he is a very keen and surprising (even funny) at times even smarter than all the other cops. It's sort of the motif of buddy cop, only here this is a dog which at first almost seems like this could be a gimmick, which is a fundamental problem with pet/animal characters in most visual medium. And yeah it's true that it's kinda far fetched that a cop would have a dog as a partner instead of a human, but the way they handle it feels almost plausible and why the heck not have a dog with you most of the time as they can be the most helpful in sniffing out evidence as well as take down baddies from a distance or when your in trouble.

Even like Reinee whom was in on seasons 3-5 of the show, her character was a solid human partner for Hank, she's tough has a little charisma. I remember when I was a kid I kinda had a crush on that actress, she was kinda hot, liked the French Canadian accent made her even more attractive. I also thought both that character and Hank would hook up somewhere along the line but that never happened so oh well, but I'm fine that they kept it platonic.

I think what makes this detective show really stand out for me is the real sense of a family dynamic, I really like how all four really correlate with each other which is why each are strong but stronger when together and I feel that's a good message not just for family but for even a group of detectives.

The plots are actually pretty good there the typical crimes but what makes these different are that most of these plots tackle real serious social issues and it's not watered down they do it with subtlety and maturity, like abuse, racism, school violence, drugs, etc.

The only weak points for me are the show at some points can at times come off just a bit preachy in places and there are a few too many tacked on situations where it comes off a bit too convenient that Rudy saves the day. But then again this is a family cop/detective show what are you going to do.

Overall, this show is clean good fun, if you like dogs and even detective/cop shows then this is worth a try, just like Rudy this show has both bark and bite.

Rating: 3 stars

Katts and Dog is a Canadian production. Like almost all Canadian productions, it is co-produced with another country, in this case France. This is done to join costs to make a more attractive show, a show that will attract viewers from all over the world. The french character on the show was not to show the Quebec/Ontario relations (although it does a nice job).

The character was there to represent the production with France. The characters and the show itself are created in a neutral manner. The people in many countries can relate to the characters and the setting because there is no real connection to a particular city. Canadians can relate as Canadians, and the rest of the world can relate as well.